Arc of Gunfire

Prosen Imperial Army.

Lieutenant General Lord von Dietrich, commander of the 25th Infantry Group of Prosen, was looking at the smoke rising from the city suspiciously.

His headquarters was on a hill outside the city, with an excellent view, and he could even see the battleship Friedrich der Grosse on the sea in the distance.

Because of this, he could clearly see the smoke spreading in the neighborhood at this moment.

After a brief thought, the Lord asked the Chief of Staff for his opinion: "Is there any white poison gas?"

The chief of staff shook his head: "I've never heard of it, phosgene... isn't that white."

The Lord held the telescope with both hands and nervously adjusted the knob on the telescope back and forth with his fingers. This was his habitual movement when thinking.

The chief of staff said, "Maybe it's just smoke?"

"The defenders use smoke?" the Lord exclaimed. "Isn't there no way to use the machine gun firepower? The range advantage of the Divine Arrow cannot be used! In the Carolingian Battle, our smokers had to use smoke bombs to cover the tanks as they rushed through. In the advantageous area of ​​the Divine Arrow, smoke is the attacker’s best friend and the defender’s nightmare!”

The chief of staff shook his head: "Maybe the enemy commander is a layman?"

The Lord shook his head: "The enemy's commander is the experienced Duke of Vladimir. He has received a complete military education and will not make such a low-level mistake..."

Just as he was talking, a staff officer rushed in: "It's bad!"

Lord: "Shout the report first!"

The staff officer suddenly stood at attention and stamped his heels loudly: "Report!"

The Lord was still not satisfied and lectured: "As an officer, no matter how urgent it is, you must behave in an orderly manner. Your subordinates are watching. Do you understand, Captain Hoffman!"

"clear!"

Lord Von Dietrich nodded with satisfaction: "Very good. Tell me, what's the matter?"

"The 54th Division reported via radio that the Ant Empire launched a counterattack. They have lost contact with the 353rd Regiment under their command, and broken troops have appeared near the division headquarters!"

Lord Von Dietrich was stunned: "Counterattack? It has only been two days since the war started, and we have already fallen in the city of Roniezh. Wherever we go, the armies of the Ant Empire have been defeated like mountains. They still have the morale to launch a counterattack. Shock?"

The chief of staff reminded: "You just said that the enemy's commander, Prince Vladimir, is very capable."

"Yes, I did!"

His Lordship turned to the map.

"But if the enemy has enough morale and organization to launch a counterattack, why doesn't it retreat backwards? I mean, break out backwards?

"Even if they can break through the defense line when they attack us, they can't escape. From here to the border line, there are millions of troops advancing!"

As he spoke, he patted the map between Ronezh City and the national border with the crutch in his hand, and repeated: "Do you understand a million-strong army? Even if all of His Excellency the Duke's troops have to rush out, what awaits him?" There is only destruction!”

After speaking, the Lord stared at the map for a few seconds and shook his head: "No, it can't be an attack. It's just a counterattack, trying to disrupt our position and create opportunities for retreat.

"General Hoth's armored corps will soon complete the siege of Roniezh. They are doing this in vain."

As he spoke, the Lord looked at the panicked staff officer just now: "Order the 54th Division to immediately send people to stabilize the collapsed regiment and find the dispersed regiment headquarters... No, I will speak to the 54th Division in person. Is the call connected?"

"Not yet, Your Excellency, we have just learned the location of the 54th Division headquarters, and the communications vehicle has just been dispatched." The communications staff officer next to him immediately replied.

Radio communication needs to be decoded, and there will be a transmission delay. The radio will be eavesdropped by the enemy with a high probability. The phone is much safer, and the quality of communication is not comparable to that of wireless. However, the phone has to pull the wire and can only stop on both sides. Only then can the erection begin.

The Lord waved his hand: "Okay, radio is radio, I want to talk to the 54th Division."

After saying that, the Lord took the lead and walked towards the door.

The staff officer at the door quickly opened the door, then stood at attention, held his head high and watched the Lord go out.

In the communications room next door, the communications staff officer held the radio microphone and shouted: "Rheinland, please answer if you hear me!"

"Rhine" is the radio call sign of the 54th Division.

After several calls, the staff officer handed the microphone and earphone to the Lord: "Connected, Brigadier General Hausen, commander of the 54th Division."

The Lord took the things, cleared his throat and said, "I'm Von Dietrich, what's going on over there?"

"I don't know. The situation is very chaotic. There are many broken troops." Brigadier General Hausen's voice was intermittent and there was rustling. "The broken soldiers said that Antonov's guards launched an attack, and some said that the Eastern Holy Church was dispatched. Paladin."

The Lord frowned: "Find out the situation as soon as possible! I think the enemy has a limited counterattack!"

"But, Your Excellency, the enemy used heavy artillery to launch smoke bombs. Now there is no wind. The smoke covers the ground and nothing can be seen. It is unreasonable to use so many smoke bombs for just a tentative attack."

Dietrich looked out the window. Even in the communications room, he could see the thick smoke in the city in the distance.

The Lord raised his voice: "No, no, it is unreasonable to attack at this time! It is just a defensive counterattack! Where is he going to attack? Behind us are tens of thousands of Proson troops!"

"But your lord...the enemy...the rout...how did it happen?"

Dietrich frowned: "Brigadier General Hausen! Brigadier General Hausen! There are gunshots over there, what's going on?"

But all he got in response was static.

Dietrich returned the headset and microphone to the communications staff: "Troubleshoot as soon as possible!"

The communications staff immediately checked the status of the radio itself, and then checked the hand-cranked generator, and then reported: "Lord, there is no mechanical failure."

The Lord: "Then continue to call!"

The communications staff did not dare to neglect, and immediately shouted into the microphone: "Rhine Rhine, please answer if you hear me!"

The Lord began to pace in the communications room, tapping his palm with his cane as he walked.

After a while, the Lord took out his pocket watch and looked at it: "Five minutes, what happened?"

"It may be that there was a mechanical failure on the Rhine side - I mean the 54th Division. But..."

The communications staff hesitated.

Lord: "But?"

"But the division has several high-power radios, and it is hard to imagine that they all have problems at the same time."

The Lord pursed his lips, his face gradually darkened, and he ordered: "The 54th Division may have encountered trouble, and our expectations of the enemy may be too optimistic. Where is the army reserve now?"

"It has reached Shulshevka."

Lord: "Isn't it still more than ten kilometers away from us? Why is it moving so slowly?"

The chief of staff looked helpless: "There is a traffic jam. The road conditions in the Ante Empire are worse than we imagined. The battle plan regards the "highway" as a modern highway with asphalt surface, but it is actually just a compacted dirt road.

"The road capacity is very low, and the damage to the car is also great.

"So the troops advancing by car are stuck on the road."

The Lord looked like he had eaten shit: "There are always problems on the battlefield, either here or there, anyway, there will always be problems. Is there any way to contact the 54th Division now? You continue to call!"

The last sentence was said to the communications staff, who hurriedly picked up the microphone and continued to work mechanically.

The Lord looked at the other staff officers.

The Chief of Staff spoke: "The reconnaissance battalion of the group army has cavalry, you can consider sending them."

The Lord pointed out the window with his cane: "Although we are outside the city, the 54th Division is already in the city."

At this time, the communication staff who was still working hard suddenly stopped calling and said: "I have a way to call the armored forces assigned to our attack. There is a radio in the tank."

The Lord: "Remember to report first next time."

"Report!"

"No need to make up now! I have heard your opinion. Let's do it this way. Do you know the frequency of the armored soldiers?"

The communication staff nodded: "Of course, we have heard the communication of the armored soldiers."

"Then shout."

The communication staff approached the microphone again: "This is the Eagle's Nest, this is the Eagle's Nest, calling the commander of the armored forces."

The Lord continued to pace, tapping the palm of his left hand with his cane.

"Sir, it's connected!" The communication staff was overjoyed and handed over the microphone and headphones.

The lord took the item for the second time: "I am Lord Dietrich, who is talking to me?"

The other side heard a poor Plossen language: "It's you, Uncle Ant!"

After this sentence, it was all Ant language.

As a descendant of a famous family, the lord can speak Carolingian and Ant language in addition to Plossen language. In fact, before the war, the Plossen court and the Ant court had quite a lot of exchanges, so they signed a non-aggression treaty.

So the lord completely understood the other party's shouting and cursing, and then asked back in Ant language with almost no accent: "So, you are an Ant soldier? You won't speak in the headquarters of the 54th Division, right?"

The other party obviously didn't think about this situation at all, and fell silent directly.

After a moment, the voice responded: "I don't know what division headquarters this is, and I don't know your Proson characters! Anyway, there are many maps and documents here, all of which have been seized. Naturally, there will be staff officers who understand your language to study them carefully!" The lord's brows were twisted into a knot. He immediately decided to get more information and asked: "Brave Commander Ant, may I ask your name?" "Do you think I will reveal this information to you? Go to hell! Wash your neck and wait. I don't understand your language, but I can read maps! I know where your headquarters is! Wait and see!" The lord: "Wait a minute! This officer Ant!" He shouted several more sentences, but the only response he got was the rustling static noise. The lord turned his head and looked at the chief of staff: "Let the guard battalion, reconnaissance battalion, and special battalion prepare for battle. Drive the tanks of the headquarters to the top of the hill and prepare to resist the enemy's attack!" The chief of staff nodded: "Understood!" The lord looked at the smoke that had covered a quarter of the city in the distance, and said in amazement: "Is Duke Vladimir's command style like this? But I remember that when the two countries conducted joint military exercises before, the Duke was a stickler for rules... "In this case, the person who destroyed our division headquarters and launched this counterattack is a military genius! "